Throwing this out there: When you read a book by an author you were previously unfamiliar with, and love it, do you immediately track down everything else they’ve written and read as much of it as you can get your hands on? Or to you spread it out slowly to savor it (or, from a more pessimistic standpoint, to avoid getting sick of it)? Or does it hardly affect whether or not you’ll pick something up by the same author, because you find your likes aren’t really that consistent?

My instinct usually is to do the first, but my budget means it ends up looking more like the second. And sadly, I maybe should follow the third to some extent–when I fall in love with the first book I’ve read by an author, I rarely enjoy any others quite as much.

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I'm usually more like the first type, but I also have a small budget so I put them in my Amazon shopping cart ("save for later" option is my friend) and buy them when I can. Usually by the time I get to purchase and read them, it's like seeing the author's work for the first time all over again. LOL

Yeah, I kind of don't mind having to wait between books, because I do find that if I read too much by the same author all at once, I start noticing patterns and so on, and it's just less fresh feeling. If I read a bunch of other things in between, each novel seems more special, or something. :)

I can definitely see doing that with a series, because it's like one really big story that just happens to be split into different books. :) I think I'd feel overloaded if I tried to read, say, five stand alones by the same author one after the other, though.

#1...every time :) (P.S. After spending way too much time on other things, I finally got to read your ms again yesterday -- will send along thoughts tomorrow, but as with the first time, I definitely enjoyed it!)

I usually see how many books I can find at the library first, and if I like a second book by the same author, I'm more likely to buy the third. Sometimes though, I get my hands on that second book and I'm not drawn into it, and that usually means, sadly, that I won't pick up more by that author.

I find I'm pretty quick to give up an an author, too. I don't necessarily *like* doing it, but my to-read list is so huge that I'd rather stick with authors I consistently like or haven't tried yet but have reason to think I will like than authors who've already disappointed me at least once.

If it is someone with a LOT of books I usually spread them out, though sometimes I just can't wait (I read all the Brother Cadfael books in about a year). Right now my "slowly savor" list includes Diana Wynne Jones, Elizabeth Peters, Georgette Heyer and Laurie King.

Slowly savor? As in pretending for months or years that a book I might love as much as I loved the first book (or more) doesn't exist? Are you kidding?! :)

If I can't afford the books, I'll get them through the library. If the library doesn't have them, I'll get them through Interlibrary Loan. Nothing stands between me and a series I love but haven't caught up with yet!

(Point in case: I ordered Catherine Fisher's SAPPHIQUE from the UK just a few weeks after it came out. First and only time I've done that for a book, and though it was a pb it cost me about as much as the last Harry Potter in hardback once the postage was factored in, but it was SO WORTH IT.)

I'm in the first group and then, when I hit saturation, I space the books out. Sometimes I'm disappointed by the following books but other times the next book, particularly if it is a new series, is better.

I also pre-read books at the library first then if I like the book I'll buy it. I got burned badly on several books I bought and HATED so much I could not read them, so I test-read at the library first now.

With completely new-to-me writers, I rarely buy new without reading--usually get from the library or used or get through BookMooch--because yeah, it sucks getting burned like that. Once I've read 2-3 books by an author and consistently liked them I'm much more likely to risk buying a new one right away. (Like, you'd better believe the new Attolia book will be mine the second it hits bookstores. ;) )